Prologue

696 Words
PROLOGUE Xavier Kim and Vladimir Park were childhood friends and their families were long-time allies during wartime. Both of them came from rich and influential families. The Kims were in food manufacturing while the Parks were in the textile and clothing industry. Xavier and Vladimir were so close that they were there for each other. When they were both single, they vowed to let their future kids marry to solidify their friendship even more. Vladimir married Isadora Lee and had a daughter, Yazel in the following year. Eight years later, they had a son, Chadwell. Xavier married Rina Ellman. Months after their wedding, Rina had a miscarriage. She had three more after that. Finally, six years into their marriage, Rina gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Zannah. Since the Park and Kim families were close, they had a yearly summer outing. This year, they decided to append it at the Park’s mountain cabin. Xavier and Rina, Zannah, and Chadwel went ahead to the mountain cabin because Vladimir and Isadora went to fetch Yazel from her college. As they were in the car traveling to the mountain, they were ambushed by several masked gunmen. Zannah and Chadwell, who were seated at the back sustained only minor injuries but Xavier and Rina were heavily wounded. Xavier told everyone to pretend to be dead. The assailants came near the car and then left when they thought that they were all dead. Rina was dead on the spot. Before Xavier’s last breath, he pleaded with Chadwel to bring Zannah with him and escape the place. Chadwell promised to take care of Zannah. Zannah was in shock at what happened and could not talk. Chadwell led Zannah away from the scene. They walked up the mountain and not towards the cabin for fear that bad men were waiting for them there. Instead, they went in the opposite direction where there was an orphanage that was supported by the Kim and Park Families. It was a long journey as Zannah was weak from shock. It was nightfall when they finally reached the orphanage. The nuns were quick to take them in. Before Chad collapsed in exhaustion, he brought out a small box from his pocket and opened it. He brought out a gold necklace with a diamond-shaped pendant. On the front were tiny diamonds that formed a circle. At the back were the letters CP at the top and ZK at the bottom. He placed the necklace around Zannah’s neck and then begged the nun not to remove the necklace from her because it will be helpful to identify her later on. He meant to give it earlier but the tragedy happened. When Chadwell woke up, his father was there. He asked for Zannah but his father said that she was gone. He felt that they were hiding her from him and out of frustration he became out of control and collapsed. From the investigation conducted by the police, it was revealed that the real target of the gunmen was Vladimir Park. Xavier and Rina were killed due to mistaken identity. The gunmen thought that they were Vlamidir and Isadora Park because they used Vladimir’s car. Because of this, Xavier’s father, the mighty Demetrius Kim, ordered the Parks to cut ties with Zannah. He blamed them for the death of his son and daughter-in-law. With that, Demetrius immediately sent Zannah, who was still in shock, to a remote island. He hired Maria, an old woman who was indebted to him. He asked her to take care of his granddaughter and to pretend as a distant grandmother. For Zannah to not look for her grandfather, Demetrius told the old woman to tell Zannah that he had died. Then he thought of Chadwell and again asked the old woman to tell Zannah that Chadwel had died as well. Demetrius did all these in the hope that his only remaining heir would be safe from harm. He intended to reveal the truth to his granddaughter when she is old enough to understand. He knew that she would hate her later on for this but for now, her safety is his priority.
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